释义 |
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2024bar•ren /ˈbærən/USA pronunciation adj. - not producing offspring;
sterile. - not able to grow crops: barren fields.
- [before a noun] not producing results;
fruitless: a barren effort. - unable to interest or attract: a barren period in architecture.
bar•ren•ly, adv. bar•ren•ness, n. [uncountable] WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2024bar•ren (bar′ən),USA pronunciation adj. - not producing or incapable of producing offspring;
sterile:a barren woman. - unproductive;
unfruitful:barren land. - without capacity to interest or attract:a barren period in American architecture.
- mentally unproductive;
dull; stupid. - not producing results;
fruitless:a barren effort. - destitute;
bereft; lacking (usually fol. by of ):barren of tender feelings. n. - Usually, barrens. level or slightly rolling land, usually with a sandy soil and few trees, and relatively infertile.
- Celtic, compare Welsh braenar, Irish branar fallow land, but derivational details unclear
- Anglo-French barai( gn)e, Old French brahaigne (French bréhaigne (of animals) sterile), akin to Spanish breña scrubby, uncultivated ground, Upper Italian barena land along a lagoon covered by high water; appar
- Middle English bareyn(e), barayn(e) 1200–50
bar′ren•ly, adv. bar′ren•ness, n. - 1.See corresponding entry in Unabridged childless, unprolific, infertile.
- 2.See corresponding entry in Unabridged infertile, depleted, waste. See bare 1.
- 5.See corresponding entry in Unabridged ineffectual, ineffective.
- 1.See corresponding entry in Unabridged –6. fertile.
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